Dear David,Thank you so much for coming to Kripalu with Danny and David. Words can hardly express the gratitude I feel in my heart to have been lucky enough to listen and learn from your experience and insight along with Danny and David. Thank goodness you came out from the Maui jungle to share your knowledge, history, and passion for yoga. Your two students, now shining lights in the yoga world, David and Danny also shared so much. I think my cells will be processing all the information for months to come as I go about my life and incorporate yoga into my daily routine. You also gave me the confidence to check in with my body and get really honest with myself about pain so that I can maintain a healthy yoga practice for life avoiding burn out or injury due to pushing or force. You encouraged me to find the strength in myself (in addition to David & Danny) to pull back if I need to or modify according to my own body. This would not be possible if I had not learned from you the importance of prana, breath, bundhas, and concentration-the most important is what's invisible, so that my body can heal and open up over time. See you soon!Caroline

Dear David, I can't tell you how indebted I am to you for releasing me from the custody of "the Ashtanga police" (aside from the fact that for most of my life I've been sort of a "goody-goody," always attached to doing things "right" and following rules). Since I returned to my classes last Sunday, I have been teaching my students that it's OK to touch their knees on the floor to curl their toes under from Upward Facing Dog into Downward Facing Dog; I've stopped trying to pull them deeper into asanas (although I will still gently guide their spines in the direction they should be going, coax closing shoulders to open, etc.), but rather now emphasize the movements and directions they need to move their bodies in order to get closer into the asana themselves; and instead of telling students who close their eyes to open them, I now actually tell them, at certain strategic times, to close their eyes, not to feel relaxed, but to be better able to breathe more consciously, focus on moola bandha, and feel the prana without any visual distractions. I always gave them options for doing the vinyasa between asanas and right and left sides, but instead of only giving them a Lolasana alternative, I also tell them it's ok to even just inhale up from the right side and exhale into the left side. I even have many of them going over to the wall, now, to work on Utthita Hasta Padangustasana. I hope it's OK if I use your terminology of trying to "move more air in and out of the lungs." It seems to take the pressure off them to, as DS so "cleverly" says, "make an asana of themselves," and focus on breathing and prana. I also absolutely LOVE your phrasing, "What's important is invisible." I think the world would be a much more peaceful place if everyone kept this in mind.... I've never been to Nova Scotia but I would think it's beautiful. I know wherever you go you will "keep the prana flowing."